-Written by Kyle Bain.
In the heart of a pandemic, a stripper is forced to work overtime from the confines of her home to make money for her mother’s experimental cancer treatment. The money is due tomorrow; so with time running out, Summer (Chuti Tiu) must do everything in her power to save her mother. This is A Summer Night.
Sometimes films are so over-scripted that the dialogue feels unnatural, and it steals from the film, sometimes going as far as to make it difficult to appreciate a film at all. A Summer Night is the complete opposite. It feels that the actors were given the opportunity to shine, to go off script ever so slightly, and that allows the film to feel more authentic. The conversations between friends feel real; the emotion present in the sometimes awkward discussions and interactions are an accurate representation of the real world.
Similarly, the entire film feels this way. While the story is guided by Summer, a stripper performing for dozens of clients–that’s just the surface of the film. A Summer Night extends far beyond the surface level, telling the story of what the pandemic was like for the world. We see more than Summer’s point of view, getting to hear from those dozens of clients, hearing their stories and being able to empathize with them. Abuse, financial struggles, family issues, and more come into play, and Summer is ultimately the catalyst for all of it.
With that, Tiu is tasked with ensuring that everything comes to life. She’s the only person that doesn’t appear on a computer screen, the only person that is more than just the images that feel very disconnected (intentionally so). She harbors all of the emotion present in A Summer Night, she works almost as an empath, as her reactions to others are what allow us to appreciate and understand them.
I most will turn this on because a beautiful, scantily clad woman sits on the poster–promising something risque and sexually driven. A Summer Night delivers on this time and time again, and for those that want nothing more than this from the film, they will leave feeling satisfied. Though I would venture to guess that even those that entered to fill their sexual appetite will be willing to stick around, because the emotional prowess of this film is so abundant and so obvious that there’s no avoiding it. A Summer Night is a slow burn of emotion, slowly reeling you in until its final act, when it lays down the hammer and attacks you with unprecedented and a truly unexpected level emotion. Writer-Director Oscar Torre and Tiu peak in the closing of the second act, and Doug Tompos (Rick) supplements the most important scene of the film with a similar expertise, one that helps elevate the film even further.
A Summer Night is a dark, trying film that leans heavily into emotion–far more than I could have anticipated going in. Led by Tiu, the film continues to entice viewers throughout its entirety, continuing to build on the powerful emotions that exist within. A Summer Night is beautiful beyond what potential viewers could have imagined. With brilliant pacing, cinematography that captures both the sensual and the emotional, and a lead actor that dominates from beginning to end, I can’t imagine that anyone has an issue falling in love with this film.
Written & Directed by Oscar Torre.
Starring Chuti Tiu, Roberto Sanchez, Doug Tompos, Clarissa Jacobson, Oscar Torre, Joey Nader, etc.
8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
